Latest updates from Bangkok: it’s a stalemate

Malaysia Today

Haris Ibrahim and Amarjit Sidhu, representing Raja Petra Kamarudin as his lawyers, are currently at the Malaysian embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. Raja Petra is waiting at the hotel for the lawyers to return to advice him as to the next move.

It seems the police want to record Raja Petra’s statement under Section 203, a crime of making a false statement with regards to his TV3 interview in Perth, Australia. A police report was recently made against Raja Petra alleging that he lied in his TV3 interview.

Haris and Amarjit had a heated argument with the police with regards to the purpose of taking Raja Petra’s statement. They wanted to see a copy of the police report lodged against Raja Petra and demanded to know why the police want to take his statement with regards to his TV3 interview and not with regards to his June 2008 Statutory Declaration.

The police then said that Haris and Amarjit would have to go to the embassy to see a copy of that police report. Haris and Amarjit agreed to follow the police to the embassy but insisted that Raja Petra remains at the hotel.

It is currently a stalemate and no decision has been made yet whether Raja Petra will consent to his statement being recorded even if is done outside the embassy grounds.

It appears the focus of the police investigation is on the ‘lies’ in Raja Petra’s TV3 interview rather than the Statutory Declaration as initially announced.